


Behind His Smile

by BelleAmante



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Isaac Feels, M/M, Post-Season/Series 02, Pre-Slash, Stiles Stilinski is Not Amused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-17
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-04-30 10:10:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5159855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BelleAmante/pseuds/BelleAmante
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isaac's smile does things to Stiles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Behind His Smile

**Author's Note:**

  * For [withinmelove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/withinmelove/gifts).



Before Derek became the Alpha, Isaac Lahey was nothing more to Stiles than a silent figure in the hallways and classrooms and locker room. There was something about Isaac that made your eyes slide right past. Maybe it was the fact that he never spoke to anyone unless forced. Maybe it was the way he always smelled a bit like cemetery dirt. Maybe it was the hunched shoulders or the slow, careful walk, or the way he never made eye contact. Maybe it was the fact that, before the bite, Isaac never smiled at all.

The first time Stiles saw Isaac smile after the bite, it was bitter and condescending with just a hint of self-loathing. Isaac and Erica were actively trying to poison Lydia to justify killing her later. Isaac spoke of vengeance and death, and he smiled at Stiles while he did it. That particular smile made Stiles want to do no less than murder Isaac in the chemistry classroom and screw the consequences. It was the only smile he would see on Isaac’s face for weeks to come.

The first genuine smile Stiles ever saw on Isaac’s face happened the night they rescued Boyd and Erica (and Cora) from the Alpha pack. 

Two weeks after sophomore year ended, the missing posters of Boyd and Erica got to be too much. Stiles couldn’t say he considered either of them to be friend material, but he’d seen their terrified faces in the Argent’s basement and seeing their smiles splashed across every notice board in Beacon Hills sent him back to that night over and over.

Stiles spent hours working through the problem of their disappearance in his head. He called Lydia and talked through the problem with her. An Alpha Pack? Really? Who thought that was a good idea?

He put up their pictures on his wall and promptly took them down again because all he could see were their bloody faces covered in tears. 

He paced and argued with himself and hacked into the police department’s files. No luck there. There were mentions of Erica’s seizure medications and the change in her behaviors before the disappearance. Mentions of Boyd’s little sister who died when he was a child and his own increasingly erratic behavior. Mentions of a link to Isaac Lahey. 

The file on Isaac was long and depressing and had a picture of Before Isaac who looked sad and broken and not at all like the arrogant werewolf he’d been dealing with in those long weeks of hunting the kanima. There was nothing to help him find Erica and Boyd in the file, so he closed it before he got lost in the rabbit hole that was Isaac’s miserable life story.

There were a limited number of solutions to this problem, but Stiles couldn’t start ruling them out until he talked to Derek. Or talked _at_ Derek and hoped Derek talked back. 

Finding Derek wasn’t terribly difficult. Stiles made one quick phone call to Lydia, who asked Jackson, who asked Derek, who then appeared in Stiles’s bedroom one Tuesday morning with a smirking Isaac in tow. 

Stiles gave an indignant yelp and almost fell out of his desk chair when Derek’s head appeared in his window. “Jesus Christ! You have got to stop doing that.”

Derek did not dignify that with a response. “Lydia said you wanted to talk to me about Boyd and Erica.”

Stiles nodded. “Yeah. She told me about the Alpha pack, and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking.”

Derek gave a wave of the hand in the universal gesture to continue.

So far so good then. “I’ve heard an Alpha roar before. Is there some reason you haven’t been able to roar to them?”

Derek sighed. “I’ve tried that. There was no response.”

“Figured you had. So that tells us they’re either not in Beacon Hills or they’re some place that blocks sound.” 

Stiles had a list of possible locations already printed out. He grabbed the list off his printer and handed it to Derek who glanced down at it and then back up at Stiles with a raised eyebrow.

“There are a limited number of locations where the sound of your roar could be blocked. When you add in the fact that it has to be sturdy enough to hold werewolves in distress, that number gets smaller. Then add the fact that it has to be secret enough that no one has noticed two missing teenagers for almost a month. I’m not saying they’re definitely in one of those locations but they’re almost definitely in one of those locations.” 

Derek looked down at the paper more closely and handed it to Isaac who also looked it over with an expression Stiles had never seen on his face. This unguarded moment was brief, but Stiles thought maybe the look on Isaac’s face had been hope.

Isaac’s expression closed off again as he looked up. “There are only 12 places listed.”

“I know. I mean, it’s not like we can just waltz into all of them, but maybe we can each take a few locations and scout them out.”

Derek glared. “Not you. Isaac and I will go.”

Stiles’s face flushed. “Hey. I did all this research, you know. I’m not helpless.”

Isaac snorted, mouth twisted back into that hateful smirk. Derek shot a silencing glare his direction. “I’m not saying you’re helpless. You’ve already been helpful, but compared to werewolves, especially Alpha werewolves, you’re someone else for them to use.”

Some part of Stiles knew Derek was right, but it stung to think that he’d done hours of work and was being sidelined when it came to the actual rescue. “I don’t have to go in. I can just take my Jeep and stake some places out from relative safety.”

Derek shook his head. “Your Jeep is too recognizable.”

“Well, can I take Scott?”

Derek’s response was quick, anger tightening his jaw. “No. Scott’s not pack.”

The tension snapped inside of Stiles, and he exploded out of his chair, hands clenched and heart pounding. “I refuse to just sit here on my ass doing nothing!”

Isaac opened his mouth to say something but shut it at another glare from Derek. Derek took several deep breaths, looking between them. “You can go with Isaac or not at all. Your choice.”

There was a long pause where no one spoke, Stiles looking at Isaac and back to Derek and then back at Isaac. Isaac appeared to be doing the same thing, jaw slack with confusion and a slowly growing anger.

Isaac spoke first. “Seriously? You seriously want me to take Stiles to find the Alphas?”

Stiles let out a bitter laugh. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want you to take me anywhere. I think he’s hoping my dislike of you outweighs my desire to go with you to find them. He’s wrong, by the way.”

Isaac put his back to Stiles then. “I’m not taking him. He’ll get me killed.”

Derek gave them both a pointed look. “He won’t go inside. And he’ll bring mountain ash and wolfsbane to keep in the car.”

Stiles wanted to argue. He hated being told what to do, but a compromise was a compromise even if it involved Isaac.

Isaac spun back to face him but Derek put a restraining hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to go to the old mine tonight. You and Stiles are going to-”

“The bank,” Stiles interrupted.

Derek closed his eyes in impatience but nodded. “You and Stiles are going to check out the bank.”

"One quick issue here. Isaac doesn’t have a car and you said my Jeep is too noticeable. How do you expect me to stay in the car if we don’t have a car you’ll let me drive?"

“You can take the Camaro.” Derek held out his keys toward Stiles but pulled them back at the last second. “Don’t destroy anything. And don’t get pulled over.”

Stiles snatched the keys from Derek’s hand, spinning them around his finger. “I love how you tell me not to destroy anything before telling me not to get pulled over. I think you need to check out your priorities.”

“Stiles,” Derek ground out. “Don’t make me regret letting you come.”

“I’m already regretting that,” Isaac mumbled.

Punching Isaac would only end up with a sore hand, but it was tempting. “I’m not exactly thrilled about spending the day with you either, Mr. Optimistic.”

Derek stepped between them. “Stop bickering. Go to Deaton first. Tell him you have a lead and get whatever mountain ash or wolfsbane he can spare you.”

The drive to Deaton’s and then to the bank was spent in silence. Isaac didn’t offer a single snarky or pessimistic comment. Maybe Derek had threatened him into behaving. Or maybe, Stiles thought begrudgingly, Isaac was too worried about Erica and Boyd to bother with banter. 

Beacon Hills First National Bank was Stiles’s first choice because it was in an old rundown part of Beacon Hills, where traffic was scarce and there were more abandoned buildings than occupied ones. The building itself was made of stone and could easily house two angry werewolves for an extended period of time. 

Stiles also chose it because it was the location he knew best. When he was a child, this was the only bank that cashed checks for government jobs. Stiles’s memories of the bank consisted of his harried mother, lines of too many people, and a very clear wonder that some place so big could be so boring. 

The biggest problem with the bank being in a relatively unoccupied part of town meant that they had to park farther away from the bank itself and that there was very little to keep Stiles entertained. After several pointed glares from Isaac every time he pulled out his phone, Stiles finally settled back into his seat with a sigh and stared at the empty buildings. Why was he so desperate to go on this stakeout again? Stakeouts with his dad had been fun, or at least more fun than staring at Isaac’s sullen face.

As the afternoon was turning into evening, Isaac tensed in the passenger seat. A woman and what appeared to be a blind man were coming out of the alley on the far side of the bank. From this distance, it wasn’t clear how Isaac knew anything was wrong, but the set of his shoulders spoke louder than any words.

Stiles didn’t say anything but raised his eyebrows in a questioning expression. Isaac’s jaw clenched, and he nodded. The pair continued up the street, heading directly towards them. Stiles tried to keep his heart rate from spiking, but it was difficult while watching two possible Alpha werewolves approach.

But then they stopped. And got in a car. And drove away in the opposite direction.

Stiles felt like he could breathe again, heart rate slowing back to a more normal pace. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he looked over to see Isaac opening the passenger door. Stiles grabbed his arm before he could go anywhere. “No, dude. Wait. We need a plan before we go charging in there.”

Isaac’s eyes glowed gold. “They’re here. This is the right spot. They’re here.”

Stiles didn’t let go of his arm. “I know. Or at least I know that you know that. Call Derek first.”

Isaac continued to stare at Stiles for a long moment before the gold bled out of his eyes. He didn’t say anything but reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone. Stiles could hear it ringing for several seconds before going to voicemail. Isaac growled and pressed Derek’s name again. After several more attempts, Isaac slammed his phone into the dashboard of the car. “Why isn’t he answering?”

Stiles felt his own frustration build before the realization hit him. “It’s the mine. He’s in the mine. His phone doesn’t have any service.”

“Then what the hell are we supposed to do?”

Stiles pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll call Scott. You call Jackson.”

“Derek said not to call Scott.”

“Well, Derek’s not answering. You trust Scott and I trust Scott. I’m calling him.”

Isaac gave him a sidelong look. “Do we trust Jackson?”

“No, but he’s a werewolf, and we need all the help we can get.”

Isaac’s phone call to Jackson took less than a minute. Stiles’s phone call to Scott took considerably longer as it involved a guilt trip for not telling Scott about everything sooner, a twice repeated explanation of the existence of an Alpha Pack, and three separate promises not to keep things from him in the future. 

Jackson arrived first in an unfamiliar midsized sedan instead of his Porsche. Maybe Jackson had learned _something_ in the past months. 

When Stiles gave him a questioning look, Jackson snapped, “It’s Lydia’s. Mine’s too loud.”

“Good call. Isaac, you should try Derek again while we’re waiting on Scott.”

There was no response this time either. Isaac paced back and forth next to the Camaro, flexing his hands, claws extending and retracting.

After about five minutes, Isaac slammed his hand into the side of the car. “What’s taking him so long? He should be here by now.”

Stiles stepped up to him, not close enough to touch but close enough to make his presence felt. “Isaac, you seriously need to take a deep breath. I know you want to get in there, but going in half-cocked is a great way to get all of us killed, including Boyd and Erica.”

Isaac took several long deep breaths, obviously trying to rein in his wolf. When he looked up at Stiles, his expression was bleak. “You can’t understand what this feels like, knowing they’re so close, and I can’t get to them.”

Stiles couldn’t understand fully--he knew that well enough--but he remembered what it felt like to leave Lydia bleeding on the lacrosse field, to handcuff his dad to the wall in a jail cell and walk away, and to hope he wasn’t too late to save Scott from Peter. “I know I can’t understand pack, but I do know what it feels like to want to help and have to wait instead. I know that. Scott will be here any minute, I promise.”

Isaac held Stiles’s gaze for several more seconds before looking over Stiles’s shoulder, some of the tension easing from his shoulders. 

Scott was coming around the corner on his bike, face red. “Sorry it took so long. My mom has the car.”

Before Isaac could say anything, Stiles said, “It's fine. We don't have much of a plan. We're pretty sure Erica and Boyd are inside and that there are at least two more Alphas also, maybe more. There are a couple of side entries I found in the blueprints that should be less obvious than going in straight through the front door. There are offices and bank tellers to the right and the vaults are to the left, which is probably where they are. The hope is that you'll be able to sneak in and find them before the Alphas realize you're here.”

Jackson snorted. “That is a terrible plan.”

Isaac growled. ”It's the only plan we've got. I'm not leaving them there.”

Stiles gaped at Isaac. Defense from that corner was unexpected.

Scott held up his hands. “No one is asking you to. We're going to go in quietly and see what we see. If we can get them out now, we will. If we need to wait for Derek, we will.”

“I'll wait on Derek to call,” Stiles said. That wasn’t the whole truth, but the werewolves didn’t need to know he had his own plan.

Scott shot him a doubtful look but nodded. 

As they started to walk away, Stiles said, “Put your damn phones on silent.”

Scott's cheeks might have turned pink. 

Stiles waited about three minutes before heading to the door the werewolves used and putting his ear to the wood. The faint sound of a growl echoed inside. It wasn’t close, so at least they’d made it deeper into the bank.

Stiles opened the door as quietly as he could manage in his haste. The bank was huge and empty, marble from floor to ceiling and covered in a thin layer of dust. Just inside, there were three sets of footprints heading off to the left. The growls were coming from that direction but still far enough away that no one should have heard him come inside.

Time to get this party started. The sooner the better. The growls were louder inside and did not sound pleased.

Stiles walked away from the footprints and toward the offices on his right, keeping his eyes and ears open for any other werewolves who might be hiding. The dust in this part of the bank was undisturbed, so that was a good sign.

He needed to find an office with a solid door that actually closed. The first two offices had glass doors that had long since been shattered. The third office had a solid wood door that was closed. Stiles really hoped there were no surprises hiding behind Door Number Three.

The door creaked as it opened. Stiles winced, but at least the noise would let him know if someone else opened it. The office was empty except for a desk on the closest wall and a bookshelf on the far wall. It was perfect. 

Stiles walked the edges of the office, mountain ash in hand. This was going to work. He was going to save his friends. 

Stiles pulled out his phone, set the timer for 15 seconds, and dropped it in the space between the desk and the wall. And then he ran, making sure to close the door to the office behind him.

15 seconds should be enough time to hide and wait for an angry werewolf to come investigate once the noise started.

The office next door didn’t have a door at all, but it had a good space for Stiles to crouch and wait. The shrill ring of his timer going off on his phone made him jump even though he knew it was coming.

Please let this work. Please don’t let them die. 

Footsteps thudded across the floor, quieter than Stiles would have expected but still coming at a good speed. Then they paused. Stiles held his breath. 

The door creaked open next door. It was now or never. Stiles breathed out and darted into the hallway.

Running on instinct more than sight, Stiles threw the mountain ash. The circle sealed itself in place a couple of inches inside the room. 

The werewolf spun on his heel. He looked back at Stiles, bright red eyes narrowed in fury. Stiles slammed the door in his face. He didn’t really need to close it, of course, but it made him feel better.

There was a loud thud, but the door didn’t shake. The mountain ash held. 

The werewolf roared loud enough to cover the sound of his phone, and the first thing that jumped to his mind in that moment was not the werewolf on the other side of the door -- it was how he was going to explain to his dad why he needed another new cell phone. 

As he turned to make his not-especially-quiet escape, there was the distinctive crunch of a cell phone crashing into the door behind him. Definitely a total loss on the phone.

Stiles winced and ran deeper into the bank, following the growls. He pulled out his packets of wolfsbane to have them ready just in case. 

Coming around a corner, Stiles stopped dead. 

There was only one Alpha in the room, but he was huge, bigger than any werewolf Stiles had ever seen, including Peter’s Alpha form. Despite being alone, the Alpha was easily holding his own against the Betas. Scott and Jackson were the only ones standing. There was no sign of Isaac. 

The world seemed to slow as Stiles looked around the room for him. Had he been too late to save Isaac? Had he taken too long?

It took several long seconds before Stiles spotted Isaac on the ground but still moving. He was obviously injured but was getting to his feet. Relief rushed through Stiles as the world returned to its normal speed.

Stiles needed to get his plan back on track.

“Isaac! Catch!” Stiles threw a packet of wolfsbane toward him. It didn’t quite reach the spot where Isaac was crouched.

The Alpha spun toward Stiles. 

Scott and Jackson jumped on the werewolf's back, claws and fangs digging in.

Stiles took the opportunity to run to Isaac who was holding the packet in his hand. 

“What is this?” Isaac asked.

“Wolfsbane.”

Isaac almost dropped the packet. “Are you out of your mind?”

Stiles was affronted. “It’s closed. Now go distract the big bad, and I’ll see what I can do about the vault.”

Isaac looked between the vault and the raging battle. A loud crash sent them both jumping for safety. Scott slid down the marble wall several feet away, groaning.

That seemed to be motivation enough for Isaac, who jumped back into the fight. Stiles took a couple of seconds to make sure Scott was still breathing before sneaking along the edges of the room toward the vault. 

It was locked. This was bad. Expected, maybe, but still bad.

Stiles tugged on the door a couple of times, hoping for a miracle. No luck.

Checking back on the battle, things were not looking good for his friends. They were noticeably slowing while the Alpha continued to fight, apparently unaffected. The Alpha threw Jackson into a pillar as if he weighed nothing. 

Now was the perfect time. He hoped the wolfsbane worked fast. 

“Isaac, now!” Stiles shouted.

Isaac ripped open the packet of wolfsbane and tossed it in the Alpha’s face. The Alpha roared in pain and swiped out with his claws, catching Isaac across the chest. Isaac fell backwards, blood already gushing from the wound. 

The huge Alpha staggered, wiping at his face. 

Stiles ran to Isaac and stared at the pool of blood with mounting dread. Isaac was unconscious when Stiles got there, but his pulse was steady under Stiles’s fingertips. 

A window shattered somewhere above them followed by an echoing roar. Stiles looked away from Isaac long enough to see Derek leaping down from an upper floor to get to them. 

Derek landed directly in front of the groaning Alpha and knocked him to the floor with one solid hit.

When he hit the floor, one Alpha became two. Two perfectly normal sized twin werewolves, both moaning in pain. Derek pounced on one twin while Scott and Jackson grabbed the other. 

Derek swiped out with his claws as if he was going to slice the Alpha’s throat.

“Stop!” Stiles and Scott both shouted at the same time. 

Derek paused, claws digging into the Alpha’s throat. “Why?” he growled.

Stiles spoke first. “The vault is still locked. We need them to unlock it before the other two get back.”

Derek lifted the werewolf off the ground, claws still buried in his throat. “What’s the combination?”

“Fuck you,” the Alpha snarled.

Derek looked down at the other twin on the floor. “Do you have anything to add before I rip his throat out?”

The werewolf in Derek’s grip struggled. “Ethan, don’t! Deucalion will kill you.”

The other werewolf, Ethan apparently, gave his brother a pained look. “If I don’t tell them, he’ll kill you first.”

“No, he-” The werewolf’s eyes went wide as Derek cut off his air.

“I’ll unlock it,” Ethan said. Derek released his grip a little.

The wounds on Isaac’s chest were starting to heal, and he regained consciousness with a groan. Thank god.

The vault door opened with a loud bang. Isaac’s eyes flew open, meeting Stiles’s gaze before turning to the door. 

Erica and Boyd walked out of the vault, steps hesitant and slow. But they were alive.

They were rescued. And it was all Stiles’s doing. Sure, the werewolves helped, but it was Stiles’s plan, and it was Stiles that had saved them. He was never going to let the others forget about this. He was going to remind them for years.

Stiles looked down at Isaac, prepared to start gloating right that second. But he didn’t. He couldn’t speak. Isaac’s expression stopped his bragging dead in its tracks. 

Isaac was smiling, genuinely smiling. And it was beautiful. Tears streamed down Isaac’s face but his smile never faltered. 

Isaac turned that smile on Stiles then. Stiles’s heart skipped a beat, his palms were sweating, and his stomach was full of butterflies. 

“Thank you for saving them. Thank you so much.” Isaac held his gaze for another moment before standing to join his pack. 

Stiles watched him walk away, dumbfounded. 

And in that moment, Stiles knew he would do just about anything to make Isaac smile at him like that again.

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my betas K and M for helping me find the words and encouraging me through every step!


End file.
